Michael Phelps just ended his Olympics career in the most fitting way possible

In what was very likely the final race of his Olympic
career, Phelps won gold as part of the American men’s
4×100-meter medley relay team.

Swimming the butterfly leg (the third of four legs), Phelps
entered the race in second place to Great Britain. But in
typical Phelps fashion, he used a terrific underwater kick on the
turn to give Team USA a comfortable lead heading into the final
leg, the freestyle.

Here is Phelps just before his turn, about a half-body length
behind:

NBC

By the second stroke after the turn, Phelps was in a virtual tie
for the lead.

NBC

Nathan Adrian raced out to a massive body-length lead and never
looked back. Gold no. 23 for Phelps.

The relay marked the final swimming event of Rio.
Phelps exits with six more medals, including five more
golds.

Afterwards, Phelps’ Team USA relay teammate Ryan Murphy
joked that he didn’t believe Phelps was actually finished
swimming. Phelps, on the other hand, was more insistent that he
was finally hanging up his goggles.

“I’m just ready for something different,” Phelps said.

Nobody knows what that is yet, or if we’ll see him in Tokyo in
2020.

One way or another, the world of sports has never seen anyone
like Phelps, and it’s hard to imagine we’ll see someone quite so
dominant for some time. Should this really be his final
Olympics, there’s nothing more finish than him going out with a
gold.